HC reserves order on discoms’ plea

Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on private power distribution companies’ plea against Aam Aadmi Party government’s decision to get their accounts audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, which concluded hearing pleas of discoms — Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL), BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd — said it will consider their petitions and pass an “appropriate order”.

The discoms had moved the larger bench of the High Court against its single judge’s order of January 24, last year, which had refused to stall CAG audit asking them to “fully cooperate with CAG in the audit process”.

Apart from the pleas of discoms, the division bench has also reserved its order on a PIL filed by NGO United RWAs Joint Action (URJA) seeking an audit of the discoms’ accounts by CAG.

On Tuesday, the discoms had claimed in the court that AAP government’s order to get their accounts audited by the CAG has “no reason”.

The discoms had cited Section 20 of the CAG Act to drive home their point that the top auditor was not empowered to audit the accounts of any private firm.

They had also referred to a 2002 communication of the CAG that said the discoms were not government entities. Delhi discoms are a 51:49 per cent joint venture between the private companies and the Delhi government.